Practice Makes Perfect
by RainGirl9
Summary: For their latest adventure, the Doctor and Donna need to pass for a married couple. Of course, there are certain things they need to practice before they can convince anyone, like kissing. But when kissing practice leads to something more, life in the TARDIS just might change forever. D/D. Oneshot.


Hello! This is my very first fic, so I hope you like it! It is a rather silly Doctor/Donna shippy story, so if that's not an interest of yours, you might not want to read any further. Also, there's a very, very brief part that some Rose fans may not like, so please read with caution. Just letting you know so you won't be disappointed. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

* * *

"Go on then, kiss me." The Doctor puckered his lips dramatically and sucked in his cheeks until he looked like some kind of demented fish.

"Oi! You're not trying to vacuum up my lips, you know," Donna said, as she leaned as far away from him as she could get on the oversized chair that they shared. "You do know that, right? I mean, you've kissed before...right?"

He opened his mouth with a smack. "Of course I have. I'm just trying to make you comfortable, that's all."

"Comfortable? How is doing _that_ supposed to make me comfortable?" She waved her hand in his general direction.

"I dunno. I just thought it was nice and distant. You said you don't want my tongue-"

"Right. I don't want that tongue of yours anywhere near mine." She rolled her eyes. "But if you do _that_ , it isn't going to look natural at all."

"No one's going to judge us on how natural we look," he insisted. "It's just that we can pass for a couple."

"Enough people mistake us for being a couple without us having to kiss. We're only doing this so we can get used-"

"Donna!"

"What?"

"Just kiss me already." He shifted closer to her and leaned in, this time without doing his fish impersonation.

Donna leaned in, too, until she was close enough to feel his breath on her face. It was cool and slightly minty from the toothpaste they'd both used in preparation of their kissing practice. Butterflies tore through her stomach as he tilted his head and came closer still. He was just about to touch her lips with his when her hand shot out on its own and cupped his cheek.

He stopped moving, his eyes going wide. "Donna?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing? Do you want me to stop?" He swallowed audibly, his whole body tensing. "We don't really have to do this, you know. It's okay."

"Yes, we do," she corrected him. "Otherwise we would have tried it for the first time in front of the Syneevie people, and you'd have done the fish."

"Then why did you...?" Both of his eyes strained to look at her hand, which was still resting on his cheek.

"I don't know. I just sort of reached out and there was your face."

"Oh."

"Well, I mean, it adds to the effect, right?" Donna gently ran her thumb across his cheek, wishing she could take the time to properly admire his freckles without making herself obvious. "Couples do more than kiss, you know."

"Oh, yeah. That's a good point." He brought his free hand up to cover hers on his cheek. "There. How's that?

"It's a good start, but there are other things we could do to improve our image."

"Like…"

"Like this." She tugged her hand out from under his and laced their fingers, pulling their hands into her lap. "Hand-holding, see? Hugs. Pet names. Maybe we can give each other some loving looks."

He raised an eyebrow. "Loving looks?"

"Oh, don't play innocent on me now! You're great at giving loving looks."

"I am?"

"Yes! And it's really no wonder why - you do it all the time."

"I do?" He looked at her, his whole face joining in on the confused frown that graced his lips. "Who am I giving these loving looks to, exactly?"

Donna shook her head. "I don't know, everyone! It's just something that you do."

"It is?"

"You really don't realize it, do you?" She let out a frustrated sigh. Why had she even mentioned it? "You just do this thing where your eyes go all soft and melty, and you get this little smile, and it's just..." _Adorable_ , she thought _._

He squinted at her like she was a newly discovered species; a particularly confusing one. "Can you give me an example?"

"This is getting ridiculous," Donna complained, but she did her best impersonation of the Doctor's loving look, trying to soften her gaze as she lifted the corners of her mouth in the barest of smiles. "There you go. You do that."

"Really?"

"Yes. All the time."

He ducked his head and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't realize I was actually…" He hunched his shoulders, making himself look even smaller than he normally did. "I'll try to stop."

Donna gently pressed her elbow into his side, careful not to let go of his hand. "There's no need to be embarrassed, Spaceman. It's all right. It's quite a nice look, really."

"It is?"

"Yeah, 'course it is. It's sweet." She smiled at him, refusing to let herself be hurt by his obliviousness. He'd given her that look more than a time or two, and somewhere deep down inside of her, she liked to think that he meant it. Of course he didn't. Who was she kidding?

"Oh." He straightened up and gave her a small smile. "Well, thanks."

She squeezed his hand. "So, do you want to see my loving look now?"

"Okay."

"Here goes." She fluttered her eyelashes at him and smiled widely. "There. What do you think?"

"It's, erm…fine."

"I hope it's better than fine," she snapped, but then she burst into laughter. "No, it's not! It was horrible! I know it!"

The Doctor laughed, too, obviously relieved. "It's wasn't that bad. In fact, I'm completely convinced that we're a couple now. That look spoke volumes."

"You'd better be convinced," Donna teased. "I'm not going to be in this relationship alone, you know."

"I will always be there for you," he promised.

"I'll take your word for it, but you'd better not run off at the first sign of relatives or babies," she threatened.

"I promise I won't," he said. "Well, as long as you never bring your mum to visit…"

"Prawn!"

"What did I say?" He tried to frown, but the big goofy grin on his face wouldn't quite go away. "Wilf is fine! Babies are fine!"

"Oh, I dunno about all that. You might not think so after you see what they do to my body." Donna used her free hand to rub her belly for emphasis.

"There's no need to worry about that," he assured her, quite sincerely. "Carrying my children would only make you more beautiful in my eyes."

"Yeah, right," she snorted. "Seriously, Doctor, there's no need to go overboard with the mush. We need to keep it simple in front of the Syneevies."

"What? Is that overboard?"

"It's so far overboard you'd miss the water and land in the mud."

"Oh." He shrugged. "What should I say, then?"

"It doesn't matter, does it? We're not faking a pregnancy here, just a marriage."

"But what if we were?" he asked, sheepishly. "It's just, you've got me curious now. What might a human male say?"

"I don't know, it depends on the person. Maybe something decent." She shrugged, preparing to tease him. "Or maybe he'd say something like, 'Just lose thirty pounds and I'll stop making you sleep in the guest room,' or, 'Here's a new diet book and some stretch mark cream for you to try.'"

The Doctor blinked at her. "Really? Human fathers say things like that?"

"As if you haven't been hanging around Earth long enough to know." Donna snickered at his expression; a mix of horrified puppy and complete disbelief.

"Well, I haven't spent very much time around pregnant humans and their partners," he pointed out. "Practically no time, really. I've seen a few videos, but only those educational ones."

"You've watched educational birth videos?" she asked. "Wait, never mind. I don't want to know."

"Two or three," he answered, anyway. "You never know when something might come in handy."

Donna nodded. She had to admit that such knowledge might indeed come in handy one day with the sort of trouble the Doctor tended to attract.

"All right, so if our fake marriage leads to fake children, I'll be sure to throw around some rude comments and buy you diet books, cream and new pillows for the guest room. Does that sound about right?" he asked.

"That's perfect."

"Is it really?"

"Well, no," Donna admitted with a laugh. "If I'm honest, I'd much prefer what you said the first time around. I think most women would."

"So it's not too mushy after all? Because I'd prefer to say that, too." He used their linked hands to pull her into his arms for a hug. "I can't even imagine being so mean to the mother of my fake children."

"You can't?"

"No," he said, lowering his voice, "I'd just want to cuddle you and take care of you and our new fake babies."

Donna hugged him back and let herself sit with his comments for a minute, biting back the sarcastic remark that wanted to tear from her throat. But when her thoughts drifted to what she knew of his old family, her heart ached for him. He must have been a wonderful husband and father if he really went around saying things like that. "That's really sweet of you," she finally managed to say, and then she bit her tongue, hard. Anything to stop herself from turning into a blubbering idiot over the mention of fake babies with her best friend and fake husband.

"Is there any chance it has earned me a kiss?" he asked, with a soft laugh.

"That is what we're supposed to be doing, isn't it?"

"It is."

Donna nodded, coming back to reality. "Okay, enough is enough. Let's get this over with so we can move on and go have something for supper."

"Good idea," he said, and then he leaned in until his mouth was hovering over hers again. "Ready?"

"Yes!"

He closed the small distance between them and lightly pressed his lips to hers. He didnt move until she started kissing him back, and then he followed her lead. Both of them were careful to keep their bodies still, locked in a solid embrace so they could resist any urges to touch each other.

When the Doctor pulled away, Donna's insides churned with desire. "More," she mumbled.

"More?" he echoed.

"More practice. We need more…"

And then he kissed her again, this time with enthusiasm. He even pressed that tongue of his against her lips, making Donna quiver as her bones turned to jelly. Somehow, just barely, she managed not to open her mouth for him, but the urge to do so was powerful. When he finished with her lips, he placed kisses on her cheeks and along her jaw, ending with a soft kiss on her neck.

"Is that good?" he asked, when he pulled away. His deep brown eyes found hers, eagerly awaiting her response.

Donna couldn't hold in the peal of happy laughter that bubbled up in her chest. "Yes!" Then she quickly added, "I'm sure that'll fool them."

"I think so, too." He beamed at her. "That was brilliant."

"I wouldn't go that far," she warned. "Do I need to remind you about a certain body part again?"

"What, do you mean this?" He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Yes, that! Keep it to yourself," she insisted, pushing the words out before she could take them back for good. "I mean it!"

"I'll try," he said, and then he rested his head on her shoulder. "We'll be fine with the Syneevies. Don't worry."

"I hope so," she replied, as she wrapped her arm around him, pulling him closer to her. "We'll have to work on our backstory, but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Best friends turned lovers," he said, immediately. "Keep it simple."

"Yeah. Simple," Donna echoed. If only it really were.

"We could say we met on a trip to the Ice Falls. We became friends, and then eventually…" He kissed her shoulder, his breath lightly teasing her skin. "We became more."

Donna shivered. "What pushed us over the edge?" she asked quickly, hoping to stop him from noticing that goosebumps were breaking out over her skin where his lips had touched.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, we didn't just wake up one morning and decide to snog. Something must have happened to push us past friendship."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened," the Doctor said, with a soft laugh. "Well, except that we've been awake for hours. Other than that…"

"Oi! I'm being serious here!"

"Does it have to be something dramatic?" he asked.

"No, of course not."

"Then maybe one of us just came out and admitted it," he suggested.

"Which one of us?"

"Well…"

"You," Donna said, when his indecisiveness dragged on just a little too long. "Definitely you."

"Why me?"

"Because I'd never think I stood a chance with you," she admitted, softly.

"You wouldn't?" He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because…" She struggled with how to phrase it. "Well, look at you, for one thing."

"What about me?"

"You're so skinny. People usually go together with people who are around their size, you know? Or if not, it's the man who is bigger, not the woman."

"That's not true."

"Oh, I think it is. Maybe it's just a subconscious thing, but look at Rose. She was thin, right?" she asked, assuming.

"Yes, she was, but you aren't-"

"There you go," Donna cut him off. "And you're like a super genius, besides that. People want someone equal to them, not someone they have to constantly talk down to. So you admitted your feelings for me because I was too ashamed to tell you."

"Maybe I was too ashamed to tell you," he countered.

"Why in the world would you be ashamed?"

"Because I've got so much...baggage, for lack of a better term," he said, softly. "I was married before and had children and grandchildren, and I failed to protect them when it mattered the most. I've done bad things to good people. I've lost so many. And there's so much more I could say. I'm not worthy of you."

"Oh, Doctor, no, no." She hugged him tightly. "You did the best you could do in all of those situations - I know you did. I've seen you make impossible decisions before, and it's not something that you take lightly. I know you have a lot of hurt and loss in your past, but that doesn't mean you're not worthy. You're worthy of so much happiness, and if being with me would make you happy, then there's no reason not to ask me." When she realized what she'd said, she hastily added, "Erm, for our cover story, of course."

"Right," he said, softly, and then he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder.

Donna leaned to kiss the top of his head. "Are you all right?"

"Always." He peeked up at her, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "So, we told each other at exactly the same time, then?"

Donna smoothed down his hair, her heart aching for him. "Well, no. That's completely unbelievable, don't you think?"

"Probably, yeah."

"So…"

The Doctor sighed. "I don't know."

"I'll let you have the honors," Donna said, gently. "You admitted your feelings for me and then asked me out on a date. In fact, I remember it clearly now, don't you?"

"No."

"Sure you do," she prodded. "Go on then. Show me your memory still works."

"Hmm... Oh, yes. How could I forget?" he asked, with a small smile. "You packed all our your things and parked outside my house, hoping to run into me so you could ask. Too bad I beat you to it."

Donna laughed, quickly going along with it. "What was I supposed to do with my stuff? If I'd let you out of my sight to go get it, you'd have run away like you did when I invited you to Christmas dinner. I was going to ask you then, of course, under the mistletoe, but..."

"We could have had so much more time together if I'd stayed," he said, wistfully. "Still, I wouldn't have run off the second time."

"Yes, you would have. You're a hard man to pin down, but now I've got you!" Donna wrapped both arms around him again, cradling his body against hers. "And I'll never let you go."

The Doctor giggled and started squirming. "Help! She's got me!" he called.

Donna held on tighter. "There's no one here but me and your ship, and I'm pretty sure she's on my side, so you'd better give in," she mock-threatened.

"Not yet. I may have a secret weapon up my sleeve," he replied, as he stilled.

"And what's that?"

"This." And then he kissed her again, gently caressing her lips until she loosened her hold on him. As soon as she did, he pulled away and looked down at her. "There, see? I'm free."

"I only let go so I could get a better grip," Donna explained, as she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him back down to her. This time, she kissed him slowly, like they had all the time in the universe to grow familiar with each other. And they did. They were no longer reluctantly kissing for practice, but were passionately kissing and getting to know each other in a way neither had expected.

Donna's stomach fluttered when the Doctor finally pulled away from her and met her eyes. She'd always loved his eyes; the way they crinkled when he smiled; the way one glance could make her feel like everything was going to be okay even as everything crumbled around them.

He smiled, almost like he could hear her thoughts, and then he said, "Donna Noble, would you go on a date with me? For real, I mean. Not for some kind of date practice. Because that doesn't even make sense, if you think about it. The date practice I mean, not the real date." He clamped his mouth shut, ending his rambling thought of a sentence.

Donna suddenly felt dizzy, as if the chair beneath them had fallen away. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control over the spinning room. "What, for real?" she echoed. "I, mean… Me? You and me?"

"Yes. You and me."

"Oh. Right. Well… I guess so."

The Doctor laughed nervously. "Don't sound too enthusiastic whatever you do."

"But are you sure?" she asked, still half frozen. "You really want to…with me? Really?"

"Yes, really! I've been thinking about it for ages, but now I had to say something."

"But… Why me? I'm nothing to look at, I mean…"

"Yes, you are. You're gorgeous."

"I'm not."

"You are," he insisted. "You're beautiful, and you're brilliant and kind, compassionate, and courageous. And do you know what I like about you most of all?"

Donna shook her head, unable to form words for the lump in her throat. Tears welled in her eyes as the things she'd so desperately wanted to hear fell from his lips, curling around her like a warm blanket.

"The way you understand me. No one gets me the way you do, and I mean that. No one ever has. You can take one look at me and know exactly what I'm thinking and feeling, like it's nothing. And when you look at me, you don't see a hero or a god or a destroyer of worlds, or anything else. You see me." He paused for a second, thinking. "You said everyone wants someone who is equal to them. For me, that's you, Donna Noble."

"But. No. I mean... I just…"

"What is it?" he asked, gently.

"What about Rose?" she asked, as the tears began falling.

"Rose." The Doctor nodded. "Well, let me ask you this: Have you ever have a massive crush on someone, and because of that, in your mind, you exaggerated their good points and ignored all of their flaws and shortcomings?"

"Yes, of course."

"That was Rose. I met her so soon after…everything. She was nice to me, and I so needed someone to be nice; she was happy when I desperately needed happy. I let myself see her as this perfect person, but she wasn't, and I thought maybe I loved her, but now I know that I didn't, not really. I just didn't realize it until she was gone."

Donna frowned at him. "Maybe you just need some time away from me to get your head straight."

"No," he said, firmly. "It's not like that with you. You listen when you need to listen, and you argue with me when I'm wrong. You fix _my_ mistakes. And you take such great care of me. I've never eaten so regularly in my life, not to mention the four hours of sleep a night you insist on. I know I complain, but I've never felt better. You said that I need someone. I need someone who knows I'm just one person in this universe, that I'm not invincible and I have real needs. I need you. So, what do you say?"

"Erm…" Donna drew in a shaky breath as she rehearsed the words she wanted to say in her head. Surely, just shouting 'yes' wasn't enough after the things he'd told her.

"Just one date," he prodded. "Nowhere dangerous, I promise. We'll try our best to be open and honest, and if it doesn't work out, neither of us will ever mention it again and we'll go on like nothing happened. Deal?"

"Deal," Donna said, finally giving in to a simple answer.

The Doctor positively beamed at her. "Do you want to go now? I know of a restaurant you'd probably like."

"What about the Syneevies? Don't we need to take care of them before we go off for some futuristic dinner and a movie?"

"Time machine, remember? We can take all the time we need and still be there before their society crashes."

"All right, but why don't we practice some more before we go?" she asked, grinning. "We've got to keep up our skills up for when that time comes, you know."

"Oh, yes. We need lots of practice," he said, as he leaned in close again.

* * *

Donna followed the Doctor back into the TARDIS, feeling satisfied with the way the day had turned out. Their mission to Syneeviea had been an absolute breeze. It almost made her wonder why they put it off for so long. No one had so much as doubted that she and the Doctor were married - their behavior and obvious love for each other had taken care of that. They hadn't even needed to kiss in front of the King to prove anything. Of course, her heavily swollen belly might have helped matters, but she liked to chalk it up to their chemistry.

Even now, as the Doctor turned back to wrap his arm around her and lead her to the jump seat, she wanted to stop everything and melt into him. She'd never been so loved and desired in all her life, and it was the best feeling ever.

"I bought you a new pillow," he said, as he fastened the safety belt around her shoulders and hips. He had installed it as soon as they'd found out about the pregnancy and insisted that she wear it.

"Why, are you moving me into the guest room?" she teased, recalling the conversation that had started everything. She grabbed his hand before he could get too far away and interlocked their fingers, letting him know that she wasn't serious.

"Do I look like a human male to you?" he asked, and then rolled his eyes at the obvious answer. "Don't answer that. Anyway, the King's tailor sold it to me for a good price for helping him out. It's a special pregnancy pillow that's supposed to help with back pain. I don't know if it works, but it's worth a try. He said his wife swears by them. They've got sixteen kids, so I'd imagine he'd know."

"Sixteen kids? Ugh." Donna was tired enough of being pregnant with this one. Still, she used their joined hands to pull him to her for a hug. "Thanks, Spaceman. Maybe I'll finally get some decent sleep tonight."

"I hope you do." He kissed her cheek. "But if not, you've only got six more weeks to go."

"What?" Donna groaned. "You said three or four at my last checkup."

"I know I did. She's perfectly developed already, but, well... She's very comfortable in there," he said. "I don't speak baby, per se - it's not even a real language - but I can pick up on her basic feelings and emotions, and it's pretty clear that she wants to stay in there for as long as possible. Six more weeks is about as long as your body can go."

"Great."

"Isn't it?" he asked, grinning.

Donna gently slapped his arm. "You might be the kind of weirdo who likes watching his girlfriend get fat, but I'd like to see my feet again one day and I refuse to go up one more size to make room for this." She pointed at her belly.

"You're not fat, and I just think pregnancy is a fascinating process compared to the looms. Beautiful, even. Our baby is right here, under your skin." He brushed his hand against her belly and cradled it down low, his face softening. "If it makes me a weirdo to like the way you look right now, then okay, I'm a weirdo."

"Well then, hurry up and put us into the vortex, Weirdo, 'cause you've got a very happy girlfriend on your hands," Donna said, and smiled at him.

"I'll get right on that," the Doctor replied. He leaned in for a quick kiss before he turned to the console.

* * *

Well, that's it. I hope you liked it. Please consider leaving me a review. Thank you for reading!

Update: I wrote a sort-of sequel to this. It's called "Worth Her While" and you can find it on my profile page if you're interested.


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